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PR 05/07/2007 - 29877CITY OF FRIDLEY PARKS & RECREATION COMMISSION MEETING — MAY 7, 2007 CALL TO ORDER: Chairperson Kondrick called the May 7, 2007 Parks & Recreation Commission Meeting to order at 7:05 p.m. ROLL CALL: Members Present: Dave Kondrick, Michele Barrett, Mike Heintz, and Tim Solberg Others Present: Jack Kirk, Director of Parks and Recreation Dave Lindquist, Parks Supervisor Bruce Pomerantz, President of Innsbruck Villages Association Elaine Billew, 569 West Bavarian Pass APPROVAL OF APRIL 9, 2007 PARKS & RECREATION COMMISSION MINUTES MOTION by Mr. Solberg, seconded by Mr. Heintz, to approve the minutes of the April 9, 2007 meeting. UPON A VOICE VOTE, ALL MEMBERS VOTING AYE, CHAIRPERSON KONDRICK DECLARED THE MOTION CARRIED. APPROVAL OF PARKS & RECREATION COMMISSION AGENDA FOR MAY 7, 2007 MOTION by Mr. Solberg, seconded by Mr. Heintz, to approve the agenda for the May 7, 2007 meeting. UPON A VOICE VOTE, ALL MEMBERS VOTING AYE, CHAIRPERSON KONDRICK DECLARED THE MOTION CARRIED. 1. STAFF REPORT a. Program Update Mr. Kirk stated that the Program Update for the Parks and Recreation Department was included in the agenda packet for review by the Commission members. This is a summary of some of the activities that have been held during the last month. The spring activities are underway and the registration for summer activities has started. Mr. Kirk stated that he wanted to call special attention to a couple of Senior Programs that are in the Update. The Tax Assistance program, which helps the seniors complete their income tax forms, was able to help 249 seniors this year. Volunteers are trained to help the seniors complete the required tax paperwork and this is done at no cost to the senior. Parks and Recreation Commission Meetinq - Mav 7, 2007 Paqe 2 Mr. Kirk further stated that on April 12t", the seniors had a special event featuring a talk and question/answer session with United States Congressman Keith Ellison. There were just over 100 seniors that participated in that event. Mr. Kirk stated that on April 27t", there were 35 high school students form the Fridley Key Club that participated in planting 1,000 trees at Springbrook Nature Center. They worked hard planting and watering the trees on the south end of the nature center trail. Mr. Kirk stated that the Springbrook Nature Center Spring Fling was another success this year, despite the fact that it was a very cold day. There were 1,109 participants that enjoyed the petting zoo, egg hunt, face painting, refreshments, games and family fun. We had 97 volunteers who helped us make this a success. b. Park Maintenance Report Mr. Lindquist stated that during the month of April, they were very busy with painting the interior of park buildings; tree trimming; preparing the softball, baseball and soccer fields for league play; and starting up the irrigation systems. They also have been mowing the parks and sweeping the turf areas. Mr. Lindquist stated that they had an interesting issue over at Community Park last week. Two of the light poles were not working and it turned out someone had opened the inspection boxes on the poles and cut the wiring. This was most likely done to steal the copper wiring. Mr. Lindquist stated that we have some major projects that they will be working on this summer including a basketball court at the Fridley Community Center, rebuilding the north hockey rink at Commons Park, tennis court replacement, and the Fridley Community Park ballfield work. He is also working with Jack to get the electrical needs for 49er Days set up at Commons Park. Mr. Kondrick stated that every year about this time he feels motivated to say something about Mr. Lindquist and his staff and the good job that they do maintaining our city parks. Our parks really look good this year and people do notice. c. Springbrook Nature Center Report Mr. Kirk stated that the Springbrook Nature Center SPRING project was included in the State bonding bill that was approved by the Senate and the House of Representatives and sent to the Governor. It was for 2 million dollars of matching funds, meaning the City would need to come up with the additional two million dollars. The City Council had approved this project to move ahead with the understanding that the Springbrook Nature Center Foundation would do the fundraising to come up with the $2 million. The Governor vetoed the entire bonding bill last week, so we are not sure if Springbrook would be included in a new version of the bonding bill for this year. Mr. Kirk further stated that the Fridley Lions Club has approved $10,000 to purchase materials for constructing a bridge on the Springbrook trail system. The Lions Club will also do the construction work on the bridge which will replace a twenty year old bridge that is in poor Parks and Recreation Commission Meetinq - Mav 7, 2007 Paqe 3 condition. We expect the bridge work to take place in late summer or early fall. Mr. Kirk also stated that the American Legion donated $1000 to assist with nature center programs. d. Council/ Commission Survey Mr. Kirk thanked the Commission members for completing the Council/Commission Survey. It is a very valuable tool in helping the City plan for the future. The Parks and Recreation Commission will have an opportunity to discuss the survey results with the City Council at a meeting on June 4t" at Commons Park. Mr. Kirk stated that the Parks and Recreation related questions in the survey showed some mixed and varied opinions by those that responded. The question regarding a free drop-in program for the Fridley Terrace and Rice Creek Townhomes had eleven respondents thinking a free program was a good idea, ten respondents favoring the program if outside funding (donations) could support it and six respondents thinking it was not a good idea. Mr. Kirk stated that sixteen of the twenty-eight total respondents would favor replacing the old warming house at Commons Park if we can work with the School District and the youth sports association on a cost-sharing basis. Mr. Kirk stated that the question on a shade structure for the patio area at the Fridley Community Center showed that fifteen people supported this if we could find outside donated money for the project. Mr. Kirk stated that another question on parking needs at Locke Park had sixteen of the respondents that would favor asking the developer to provide parking for the users of Locke Park as part of their parkland dedication fee requirement. Mr. Kirk further stated that the Parks Capital Improvement projects did not get a tremendous amount of support from those completing the survey. The highest rated project was replacing the old picnic shelters at Moore Lake Park. That was followed by constructing an in-line skating/hockey facility. Other projects received lower ratings. e. Fridley `49er Days Schedule Mr. Kirk stated that the annual city celebration, "Fridley `49er Days", is scheduled for June 13- 17 this year. He has included a copy of the schedule of events so the Commission members know about the many activities being planned as part of this year's celebration. f. Fridley Tree Sale Mr. Kirk stated the City once again offered trees for sale to residents in response to the severe wind storm of September 2005. We ordered 100 trees and with two weeks left in the sale, we had only taken orders for 21 trees. We contacted the newspaper and put additional information on the City TV station to promote that trees were still available. We also opened the sale to all Fridley City employees, trying to get rid of our large inventory. In the end, we sold 95 of the 100 trees that were ordered. The other five trees are planted in our park system. Mr. Kirk stated that he would like to thank the Fridley Women of Today for their help with this project. Parks and Recreation Commission Meetinq - Mav 7, 2007 Paqe 4 g. June Meeting, Picnic, and Park Tour Mr. Kirk stated that the June 4, 2007 Parks and Recreation Commission meeting will be a joint meeting with the Fridley City Council to discuss the results of the Council/Commission survey. The meeting will start at 6 p.m. and we will be having a picnic supper. The tour of the parks will start at about 7:15 p.m. We should have time to visit about four or five park sites. Mr. Kondrick suggested that we include the south end of Commons Park on the tour, so Commission members can get an idea of where the various 49er Days activities will be set up. h. Bike Trail Grant Information Mr. Kirk stated that the City has submitted a grant application the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources for a trail grant that would assist with construction of the bike trails at Innsbruck Park. The application has made it through the first round and we will know in June if we are to receive funding for this year. This would be a matching grant of $15,000 and the City would need to come up with additional $15,000. If awarded, funds for the project would become available in November. We would then do the design work later this fall and start construction on the trails next spring. The trails would likely be ready for use next summer. 2. NEW BUSINESS a. Innsbruck Park Property Mr. Kirk stated that in anticipation of the bike trail project in Innsbruck Park, the City surveyor located and marked the park boundaries last November. City staff then went to the park and looked at possible areas for the bike trail to be located. It became very obvious on that site visit that there are a lot of private properties that have encroached into the park land. We saw fences that were placed onto park property and there were several areas where homeowners had cleared the natural park area to make for an extension of their groomed back yard. There were a couple of cases where there are storage sheds that are completely or partially on park property. There are also many places where debris has been dumped into the park land. Some of it is landscaping debris such as leaves and branches, but in other cases there are concrete chunks and wood building materials. Mr. Kirk further stated that a letter was sent by the City in December to all property owners abutting Innsbruck Park. We asked the property owners to remove any items that may be an encroachment into the park and to cleanup any debris that may have been dumped into the park. The City asked that all of this removal and cleanup be completed by June 1, 2007. We are rapidly approaching that deadline and it looks like most of the encroachments have not been taken care of yet. We wanted to see what recommendation the Commission would have on this issue. Should we stick with the June 1St deadline or should it be extended? Should another letter be sent to the property owners? Mr. Kondrick asked when the letter of notice was sent to the property owners around Innsbruck Park. Mr. Kirk stated that it was sent out on December 28, 2006. Parks and Recreation Commission Meetinq - Mav 7, 2007 Paqe 5 Mr. Lindquist stated that he has been in favor of people removing debris and the items encroaching into the park, but we have not had great working weather yet this spring for them to accomplish the tasks. He suggested the Commission may want to extend the deadline a month or so to give people time to make the necessary corrections. Mr. Solberg stated that he felt at a minimum, the City should send a follow up letter to the property owners to remind them that this needs to be taken care of. He would suggest that we let the property owners know what is expected of them now and in the future. Mr. Kondrick stated he would like to hear from our guests representing the Innsbruck Villages townhomes. His first reaction to all of this is that he doesn't like the encroachments and believes that people should take care of any issues they have caused at Innsbruck Park. We have a responsibility to all the tax payers in Fridley to make sure that we look after the park land that belongs to all of us. We have stayed very steadfast in protecting our City parks and he believes we should continue to do so. He feels the City should be fair, but they need to look out for the public's best interest. He now would like to hear from our two guests. Mr. Pomerantz stated that it does appear that the Innsbruck Villages does have some lawn, trees and landscaping that has encroached into the city park land. He further stated that he is here tonight to hear what the Commission expects the Townhome Association to do. Mr. Kirk stated that there is an electrical power box and a decorative light pole serving the townhomes that have been constructed in the park property. They have likely been there for many years. Ms. Billew stated that she is an original owner of a townhouse at that location and the power box and light pole have been there ever since she moved in, or over 30 years. She further stated that her townhouse is adjacent to the park land and the property where the light pole and power box are located. While she is concerned about what needs to happen to the power box and light pole, she is also very concerned about the property that they have been keeping mowed for many years. Do they have to stop mowing and maintaining that area or can the get some type of arrangement? Mr. Pomerantz stated that he understands there is going to be a bike trail installed in the park and it will be near the townhomes. He asked if the City had a map of exactly where the trail wi I I be. Mr. Kirk stated that he has a drawing showing a possible bike trail location, but that has not been finalized. Mr. Kondrick asked Mr. Pomerantz (Innsbruck Villages Association President) if there was any property that the townhome association has control of that could be used by the City in exchange for some property being used that is in the park. Could we possible barter or trade so that this could work out for everyone involved? We won't get this resolved this evening, but it is something you may want to go back and talk with your board about. Mr. Pomerantz stated that they do have some other property that does abut the park land and could possible be used for a swap of land. Mr. Kirk stated that the City would have to get our attorney involved with any swap of land to make sure all legalities are met. If it was not an official transfer of title to parcels of land, but merely the authority to use a portion of each other's land, there would need to be agreements Parks and Recreation Commission Meetinq - Mav 7, 2007 Paqe 6 as to liability and maintenance concerns. Once again, something that our attorney would need to advise us on. Mr. Kondrick stated that if we could not come to an agreement on the land exchange, then somebody is going to have to pay the costs of moving the electrical box and the light pole. This would have to be done so we can get back the land that belongs to the City. Mr. Lindquist stated that if the primary concerns are the electrical box and the light pole, it is likely that those items belong to Exel energy and they would have to pay to move them. They are the ones that put them in the wrong spot in the first place. Mr. Solberg asked that if the electrical box and light pole were moved, what would be the expectation for the townhome association related to this property. Would they be expected to stop mowing the area and let it go natural. Mr. Kirk stated that he would expect that they could only mow and landscape the property that they own. They would not be able to do any work or mowing in the park land. Also, they clearly should not have personal property such as buildings or fences on the park land. Mr. Kondrick stated that he thought we should look into the possibility of Exel energy moving the equipment that is on park land. If that is not something that can be done, then we should look at other alternatives. Our objective is to get all private property moved off of City park land with no cost incurred by the City of Fridley. Mr. Kondrick suggested that we address this topic again at a future meeting. He suggested that this be an agenda item for the August meeting, since the Commission normally does not meet in July. This gives us plenty of time to look into what can be done to resolve this issue. Mr. Solberg stated that he would like to see the property owners notified one more time and the letter should let them know what action is expected. If they have a building or structure on City land, they should move it. If they have dumped debris on City land, they should clean it up and move it. If they are mowing land that is part of this natural area park, they should stop mowing. Mr. Kondrick stated that he thought we should extend the deadline to get all of this work completed by the property owners to August 1. That gives them the rest of May, all of June and all of July to take appropriate action. Mr. Heintz stated that we have talked in the past about a neighborhood meeting to discuss the bike trail and plans for the park. The encroachments into park land could also be talked about at the meeting. MOTION by Mr. Heintz, seconded by Ms. Barrett, to recommend that City staff contact all Innsbruck Park adjacent property owners once again with specifics as to what the City expects regarding the encroachments into park property. The property owners would be expected to take care of all encroachments by August 1, 2007. UPON A VOICE VOTE, ALL MEMBERS VOTING AYE, CHAIRPERSON KONDRICK DECLARED THE MOTION CARRIED. Parks and Recreation Commission Meetinq - Mav 1, 2006 Paqe 7 b. Fall Athletic League Fees Mr. Kirk stated that he has a staff recommendation that the fall athletic league fees remain the same for 2007 as they were in 2006. The costs for officials and equipment have remained the same this year. We are trying to remain competitive with surrounding communities for similar types of athletic programs. Mr. Kirk further stated the fees would be $345 for the Mens Softball League, $370 for the Co- Rec Softball League, and $60 for the Football Passing League. MOTION by Mr. Solberg, seconded by Ms. Barrett, to approve the staff recommended fall athletic league fees. UPON A VOICE VOTE, ALL MEMBERS VOTING AYE, CHAIRPERSON KONDRICK DECLARED THE MOTION CARRIED. c. FYSA Baseball Tournament Requests Mr. Kirk stated that the City has received four youth baseball tournament requests from the Fridley Youth Sports Association baseball program. One request is for May 19 and 20 to use Commons #1. A second request is for June 1— 3 to use the three Little League Fields. The third request is for June 22 — 24 to use the three Little League Fields. The fourth request is for August 3— 5 to use the three Little League Fields and Commons Park fields #2 and #3. Mr. Kirk stated that the facility fee to reserve the fields for a tournament is $75 per field for the tournament. For tournaments at the Little League complex it was also required that the group would have to pay for additional portable toilets and a dumpster to handle the garbage. MOTION by Mr. Heintz, seconded by Ms. Barrett, to approve the tournament requests from the Fridley Youth Sports Association baseball program to run four baseball tournaments on City of Fridley Park fields. UPON A VOICE VOTE, ALL MEMBERS VOTING AYE, CHAIRPERSON KONDRICK DECLARED THE MOTION CARRIED ADJOURNMENT MOTION by Mr. Solberg, seconded by Ms. Barrett to adjourn the meeting at 8:58 p.m. UPON A VOICE VOTE, ALL MEMBERS VOTING AYE, CHAIRPERSON KONDRICK DECLARED THE MAY 7, 2007 MEETING ADJOURNED.